John Mescall's Cannes Diary: Day Three

John
Mescall, ECD of McCann Australia, is one Australia's representatives on
the Cannes Lions Promo+Activation jury. Mescall, along with most of the
Australian and NZ jurors, is reporting exclusively for CB.

3
days in and I finally gave in to the siren song of Cannes. Today, we
finished judging a little early which left us with time on our hands.
And when you have time on your hands in Cannes you drink rose. And when
you drink rose you start to believe that your wardrobe is lacking pastel
clothing and espadrilles. And when you start to believe that, you find
yourself drawn to one of either two places: Bruno's on the Croisette or
the many and varied shops on Rue d'Antibes.

Bruno's is probably worth the trip alone. I struggle to find the words
to adequately describe it, except to say that there was not a single
thing in the store that would make me look anything other than
ludicrous. Well, maybe a pair of baby seal-skin loafers but Ben Coulson
already owns a pair so that ruled them out.

Anyway, an hour and
two pairs of espadrilles and a pastel-green coloured pair of pants
later, the deed is done and I'm set for the rest of the week's judging.

Yes,
there was judging today: the final day of shortlisting the work in
groups (tomorrow we all get together to dissect the shortlist). As
usual, there is everything from the ordinary to the inspirational. But
of course it's all presented via case study films and after a while,
case study films really begin to give you the shits. So much padding and
BS surrounding the idea... so much footage shot specifically for the case
study... so much subtle deception.

And yet, the best stuff shines
through like a fluro pink polo shirt on a permatanned Cannes resident.
Tomorrow we will have a much better idea of how the entire category is
looking. I think it's reasonably strong.

Here's a photo I took
of a photo on the wall at the pizza place we had dinner at tonight. It's
a famous French actress (I can't remember who, but points if you know).
I just love her insouciance; standing in the middle of the table, alive
with a vitality others can only envy, staring down the camera, and
daring you to tell her otherwise. I think she embodies the attitude of
the very best work here this week, and from this point on is my new
heroine.

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